PHILADELPHIA — Following up a four-game winning streak with a pair of beatdowns in consecutive nights, the 76ers finally put the finishing touches on an 11-day stretch in which they played seven games.

And on the 12th day, they rested.

That was the conclusion reached by Brett Brown, who after prescribing a day off Wednesday had his players back at PCOM for a light session Thursday. The Sixers walked through a few schemes on the court, engaged in a weight-lifting session upstairs, did a little film study and received recovery treatment for the nagging bumps and bruises incurred in that span.

“We had six or seven massage therapists in here, where we took a group and took care of their bodies with attention with massage,” the Sixers coach said, describing the start to his team’s practice day. “We scripted some on the floor. We had a weight session. It was thorough, but not anything that was fatiguing. We have two games back-to-back again (Friday and Saturday).”

Advertisement

Rest is the best friend of the Sixers (12-23), who have a pair of home games on this weekend’s docket, beginning Friday with Detroit and ending Saturday against New York. There’s no telling who Brown will have at his disposal against either team, so preserving the bodies he has at his disposal was his course of action on this day.

Forward Lavoy Allen is “up in the air,” Brown said, after he tweaked his right calf Monday in a 31-point loss Minnesota and aggravated it further a day later in an 18-point defeat at Cleveland. Guard Lorenzo Brown is expected to be back from his one-day D-League assignment, but he played 41 minutes Thursday in a game in Reno, Nev. And who knows what the Sixers can expect from sixth man Tony Wroten, who has missed the last two with flu-like symptoms and a touch of migraine headaches.

“Our margin from the beginning has been minimal, and it’s if we have an injury or somebody that’s slowed up, it gets even smaller,” Sixers center Spencer Hawes said. “We know that. That’s nothing new for us.”

Usually, the Sixers will have a vigorous practice session coming off a day of rest. There was nothing usual about Thursday, however.

“We have a thin team. We’re not deep. We’re not experienced,” Brett Brown said. “We have some things that matter physically. This is where it’s on me to create an environment that’s smart in regard to their bodies. I’m not going to come out here and run their bodies ragged. It’s all about getting them fresh.”

To demonstrate how light Brown kept the proceedings at PCOM, he allowed actors Kevin Hart and Ice Cube to stop by briefly. The two were in town as a part of their movie-hyping tour in support of “Ride Along,” which opens Jan. 17.

Hart and Cube picked up personalized jerseys from the team, shook hands with the coach, and took some shots from beyond the 3-point line. They even paused for a couple pictures, including a group shot with everybody in the gym. Well, almost everybody.

Brandon Davies, the rookie forward, was late to the party. He entered the practice court with a group picture already in progress, shouting, “Wait, what about me?”

NOTE: The third returns on balloting for the NBA All-Star Game are in, and they didn’t bring good news for the Sixers. Not one of Brown’s players ranked among the highest vote-getters, whether it was the top-10 in the frontcourt or the top-15 in the backcourt. Evan Turner and Thaddeus Young, both of whom are having career years, could make the best cases for inclusion in the Feb. 16 showcase game in New Orleans.